Help Needed - Unpaid Court Fines/Marston Group - My son

[Kasi]

Marston Baliffs have today tried to demand £515 from my son due to unpaid court fines. They said if he didn't pay then they would take things from the house, but all the things there belong to my eldest son, the younger one is living with him. He has called the court and got dates, amounts etc. Total was £240 for 2 fines. He had never heard of these fines, or remembered getting into any trouble on these dates. I did some reading on the interent and he has this afternoon got a Statutory declaration signed by a solicitor and has taken it to the court. They have told him it is worth nothing and that the best thing he can do is get hold of a credit card somehow and pay it to Marstons. They also told him that these were on the spot fines (he still cant remember them) and he had 28 days from the date of offences to appeal otherwise they had to be paid and as he didn't he now has to pay Marstons. I am at my wits end, husband is serving in Afghanistan, my son lives 85 miles away and I cant get there to deal with this.

 

Is that the best advice from the court? Just pay it all including the costs to Marstons? My son has just lost his job (been laid off) so there is no way he can pay that amount. So if it has to be that way it will have to be me.

 

Hope someone can give me some advice. Thank you

[ploddertom]

Has he asked what name & address are on these fines. Would he have been present at the time & place of each incident. Chances are it could be someone else - particularly if on the spot - who has given false details.

 

PT

[Bartok]

I did some reading on the interent and he has this afternoon got a Statutory declaration signed by a solicitor and has taken it to the court. They have told him it is worth nothing and that the best thing he can do is get hold of a credit card somehow and pay it to Marstons.

 

Contact your MP

 

The court is perverting a statutory declaration and trying to coerce a credit money transfer from somebody elses credit card. That might not be compatible with the consumer credit act and Statutory Declarations Act 1835.

 

You must not pay any fine, you are not liable, and you dont have to tell the bailiff where your son is. Contact your local police station and get an incident number.

[Kasi]

I did ask him the same question. One of the addresses was my eldest sons address, which was the address he used for his driving license as he was "sort of" staying with a girlfriend at the time of the first offence, my eldest and is wife divorced and he moved out around the time of the first offence, and the other address was his dads old address. The times that the offences took place were early hours of the morning both at weekends and in the social centre of the town where he lives and he has said to me that they could easily of been him, but he would have probably been very drunk. He just cant remember. To be honest I would pay it, if it was the amount for the 2 fines but Marstons have added on almost £300

[Kasi]

Contact your MP

 

The court is perverting a statutory declaration and trying to coerce a credit money transfer from somebody elses credit card. That might not be compatible with the consumer credit act and Statutory Declarations Act 1835.

 

You must not pay any fine, you are not liable, and you dont have to tell the bailiff where your son is. Contact your local police station and get an incident number.

 

Sorry I think you have misunderstood, the bailiffs havent been knocking on my door, they have been to my sons home. I am trying to deal with this at a distance as I no longer live in the same town as them now. Should the court have accepted the Statutory Decloration then? I am sorry I dont really have much understanding of how this type of thing works.

[Bartok]

You are not liable for the fines, and in any event, theres no statutory bailiffs fees on court fines.

[Kasi]

You are not liable for the fines, and in any event, theres no statutory bailiffs fees on court fines.

 

No I know I am not liable for the fines. But he must be even if he was drunk at the time and cant remember. He knows this and is quite prepared to deal with it, I am just trying to find out if there is anyway it can be taken off Marstons so that he can set up some sort of payment plan. I am happy to help him out financially if I have to.

 

One other thing, Marstons said they would take the furniture out the house he shares with my son, even though it belongs to his elder brother. Then it would be down to mt sons to prove whose it was but Marstons would charge them a storage charge? Are they allowed to do that?

[ploddertom]

2 things - first they have to be able to gain entry in order to levy on goods + these goods must be the property of the debtor. Second your eldest can also swear a Stat Dec laying claim to said goods. They may say they will force entry if they are denied access but in reality this very rarely happens. There is no Law that compels him to deal with or speak to a Bailiff, if he is on some Benefits he may be able to have a Means Test or have deductions made.

 

PT

[Kasi]

2 things - first they have to be able to gain entry in order to levy on goods + these goods must be the property of the debtor. Second your eldest can also swear a Stat Dec laying claim to said goods. They may say they will force entry if they are denied access but in reality this very rarely happens. There is no Law that compels him to deal with or speak to a Bailiff, if he is on some Benefits he may be able to have a Means Test or have deductions made.

 

PT

 

 

I tried to pay this yesterday on my credit card. Unfortunately due to the fact my husband has used our credit card whilst away there isn't enough on the card to be able to make a payment. The bailiff left me a message in quite an unpleasant manner saying that he would escalate this now to a "locksmith" and get one there. He also said whilst he was at the door yesterday, he would take what he wanted from the house and that it was then down to my son to prove that the contents were not his. My eldest son is in work (he owns the furniture etc in the house) all day today and will not be able to get to a solicitor to get a Stat Dec signed. Can he ask this to be returned to the court so that he can then start to make payment on a weekly/monthly basis as he will be on benefits, he is waiting for his claim for jobseekers to come through.

[wonkeydonkey]

Ok, I think we need to start afresh to establish a few facts.

 

1. what was the alleged offences giving way to the fines for?

2. was he definately in the vicinity on the dates given for the fines?

3. was he with anyone who would be able to verify he had been given the "on the spot" fines?

 

I am not at all certain what takes place when "on the spot" fines are issued but I would expect he would have been arrested if he was not capable of understanding any caution given prior to the fine being issued?

Would he not also have signed to say he acknowledged committing the offences relating to the "fine"being issued?

There seems to be a lot of things missing that would establish beyond doubt your son is in fact liable for these fines.

 

If you can answer the above we can move on to getting this sorted.

 

Make sure you have keep the message left for you regarding "locksmith" as it may well come in handy at a later date.

WD

[ploddertom]

The bailiff left me a message in quite an unpleasant manner saying that he would escalate this now to a "locksmith" and get one there. I doubt he will do this as he would just do it and not tell you, again a threat to force you to pay, but please remember this is not your responsibility - although you will do as any parent would for their offspring. He also said whilst he was at the door yesterday, he would take what he wanted from the house and that it was then down to my son to prove that the contents were not his. In theory he is correct but first of all he has to gain entry and if they tell him to "on his bike" or other such sayings it is just an empty threat. My eldest son is in work (he owns the furniture etc in the house) all day today and will not be able to get to a solicitor to get a Stat Dec signed. Can he ask this to be returned to the court so that he can then start to make payment on a weekly/monthly basis as he will be on benefits, he is waiting for his claim for jobseekers to come through. Has this been told to both Marston & Court?

 

PT

[Kasi]

Ok, I think we need to start afresh to establish a few facts.

 

1. what was the alleged offences giving way to the fines for?

2. was he definately in the vicinity on the dates given for the fines?

3. was he with anyone who would be able to verify he had been given the "on the spot" fines?

 

I am not at all certain what takes place when "on the spot" fines are issued but I would expect he would have been arrested if he was not capable of understanding any caution given prior to the fine being issued?

Would he not also have signed to say he acknowledged committing the offences relating to the "fine"being issued?

There seems to be a lot of things missing that would establish beyond doubt your son is in fact liable for these fines.

 

If you can answer the above we can move on to getting this sorted.

 

Make sure you have keep the message left for you regarding "locksmith" as it may well come in handy at a later date.

WD

 

Ok the fines are for harrassment & threatening behaviour. The court has added 2 fines together. One from Jan 2006 and one from March 2008. The area that these took place is an area that my son and his friends all go out in at weekends, lots of pubs & clubs. Due to how long ago these were my son cannot remember if he was there or not, but in all probability was. He has asked friends and none of them can remember these occasions, but my son has said that if they did happen and it was him he would have probably been very drunk. He said in normal circumstances you sign to say you have been given an on the spot fine but if you are very drunk they normally arrest you and you spend the night in the station until you are sober. Should we be able to get copies of the charges? I am sorry I sound so naive, I just havent got a clue

 

Reply to Ploddertom

 

I have composed a letter to Marstons this morning on behalf of my son stating that the furniture does not belong to him, that he is unemployed and waiting for his benefit claim to be sorted and that he has a Statutory declaration signed and witnessed to this effect. This has been sent by email to Marstons and a hard copy will be in todays post. It has also been cc'd to the Magistrates Court. There will also be a seperate letter in with the copy of Marstons letter, this addressed to the court explaining my sons circumstances and is it possible for the fines to be returned to court so that he can set up a payment arrangement. Both of these have been signed by son. I have also emailed Marstons myself regarding the message on my phone asking them to tell their bailiff to destroy my credit card details and telling them they are under no circumstances to use them. The bailiff has also left me another message asking me to call him so that payment can be made.

 

Is there anything else I can do?

[ploddertom]

I was under the impression if you were totally out of your skull they gave you bed & breakfast so you remembered the ticket. Fortunately or unfortunately I've never had the chance to find out.

 

PT

[ploddertom]

You ask if there is anything else you can do. I would say short of paying it there is not much more but remember tomorrow is Saturday and although the Court may be closed the Bailiff may well be on the prowl.

[brassnecked]

If the bailiff tries to charge your card or harasses you for payment try to record the call and report him to the police for attempting a fraudulent transaction imho